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By Roger Coppock
Photo: NASA'S OCO-2 Satellite
September 6, 2015 (San Diego) -- From Version 7 data collected by NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory - 2 Satellite between May 28 and August 14, 2015, here are the CO2 emission hotspots in the San Diego and Imperial County areas. A "CO2 Hotspot" is a point at which the infrared detectors aboard the satellite find significantly more CO2 than the CO2 in the points of the area around it. The "Zscore" variable indicates the size of a CO2 anomaly--and our region has a cluster of staggering dimensions.
CO2 is the principal greenhouse gas driving manmade global warming. Therefore, it is very very important to locate sources of CO2 emissions, so that they can be extinguished. It is not an understatement to say that survival of human civilization over the next few centuries depends on this. Satellites, like NASA's latest OCO-2, are the best tools available for locating CO2 sources around the planet.
Locally, the largest anomaly is located at pin #1, where the Whitewater River meets the Salton Sea. Among statisticians, any Zscore of 6.5 is pretty mind blowing. This area should be investigated! The author and his son are organizing an expedition.
To the west, there are some CO2 hotspots located around the Interstate highway 5. Some are near industrial buildings. The cause of a cluster of unexplained hotspots east of the Salton Sea is currently a mystery. (The map pin numbers 1 to 51 are just a convenience for identification.) The Salton Sea is located in Imperial and Riverside Counties.
Date Longitude Latitude CO2 Zscore
1 2015-06-13T20:58:58.949Z -116.06062 33.503475 410.285 6.497 <== 6.5! WOW!!
2 2015-06-20T21:05:10.256Z -117.60693 33.416901 408.450 3.475
3 2015-06-20T21:05:10.282Z -117.60104 33.408409 407.681 3.134
4 2015-06-20T21:05:10.309Z -117.59522 33.399872 407.919 3.239
5 2015-06-20T21:05:10.336Z -117.58958 33.391365 408.864 3.659
6 2015-06-20T21:05:10.363Z -117.58401 33.382793 407.086 2.870
7 2015-06-20T21:05:10.697Z -117.58948 33.402824 406.607 2.657
8 2015-06-20T21:05:10.724Z -117.58414 33.394161 406.255 2.501
9 2015-06-22T20:52:45.589Z -114.46671 33.220512 404.392 2.536
10 2015-06-22T20:52:45.949Z -114.46642 33.231976 409.016 4.968
11 2015-06-22T20:52:46.229Z -114.48367 33.268864 405.738 3.244
12 2015-06-22T20:52:46.256Z -114.47775 33.260483 405.890 3.324
13 2015-06-22T20:52:46.616Z -114.47742 33.271973 406.019 3.392
14 2015-06-22T20:52:46.896Z -114.49471 33.308868 406.047 3.406
15 2015-06-22T20:52:46.976Z -114.47712 33.283432 408.025 4.447
16 2015-06-22T20:52:47.229Z -114.50021 33.328873 406.655 3.726
17 2015-06-22T20:52:47.256Z -114.49424 33.320496 406.195 3.484
18 2015-06-22T20:52:47.336Z -114.47696 33.294933 407.817 4.337
19 2015-06-22T20:52:47.390Z -114.46612 33.277676 405.279 3.002
20 2015-06-22T20:52:47.562Z -114.50574 33.348873 406.256 3.516
21 2015-06-22T20:52:47.616Z -114.49387 33.331993 405.784 3.268
22 2015-06-22T20:52:47.643Z -114.48808 33.323452 406.173 3.473
23 2015-06-22T20:52:47.670Z -114.48244 33.314938 404.506 2.596
24 2015-06-22T20:52:47.697Z -114.47689 33.306362 404.692 2.694
25 2015-06-22T20:52:47.724Z -114.47158 33.297688 406.547 3.669
26 2015-06-22T20:52:47.896Z -114.51128 33.368847 407.721 4.287
27 2015-06-22T20:52:47.922Z -114.50529 33.360474 408.873 4.893
28 2015-06-22T20:52:47.949Z -114.49939 33.351982 410.368 5.679
29 2015-06-22T20:52:47.976Z -114.49358 33.343445 406.366 3.574
30 2015-06-22T20:52:48.003Z -114.48793 33.334938 407.472 4.156
31 2015-06-22T20:52:48.030Z -114.48237 33.326366 406.248 3.512
32 2015-06-22T20:52:48.057Z -114.47704 33.317696 405.499 3.118
33 2015-06-22T20:52:48.083Z -114.47189 33.308964 406.374 3.579
34 2015-06-22T20:52:48.282Z -114.50491 33.371971 406.465 3.626
35 2015-06-22T20:52:48.309Z -114.49908 33.363441 405.046 2.880
36 2015-06-22T20:52:48.336Z -114.49342 33.354939 405.943 3.352
37 2015-06-22T20:52:48.363Z -114.48784 33.346371 406.798 3.801
38 2015-06-22T20:52:48.390Z -114.48251 33.337708 409.285 5.110
39 2015-06-22T20:52:48.417Z -114.47733 33.328976 409.030 4.976
40 2015-06-22T20:52:48.670Z -114.49892 33.374943 405.191 2.956
41 2015-06-22T20:52:48.697Z -114.49332 33.366383 407.343 4.088
42 2015-06-22T20:52:48.724Z -114.48797 33.357723 408.156 4.516
43 2015-06-22T20:52:48.750Z -114.48278 33.348999 407.803 4.330
44 2015-06-22T20:52:49.083Z -114.48824 33.369019 405.689 3.218
45 2015-08-07T21:04:49.256Z -117.60777 33.409248 405.803 3.956
46 2015-08-07T21:04:49.282Z -117.59869 33.402695 404.524 3.328
47 2015-08-07T21:04:49.309Z -117.58967 33.396080 407.751 4.913
48 2015-08-07T21:04:49.336Z -117.58083 33.389454 407.114 4.600
49 2015-08-07T21:04:49.363Z -117.57204 33.382748 404.796 3.461
50 2015-08-07T21:04:49.417Z -117.55499 33.368916 404.790 3.459
51 2015-08-07T21:04:49.750Z -117.56048 33.388947 402.987 2.573
The mapped area is not scanned evenly. The satellite has so far covered the landscape in three North to South stripes. Even coverage of the area is a couple of years away.
The author, Roger Coppock, who is a retired Computer Scientist, reduced NASA supplied CO2 concentration data to locate CO2 hotspots. The map at the top of this article is Google Earth™ displaying an output from one of his analysis programs, an artificial intelligence application.
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